


Simpler Times

by Deense



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-25
Updated: 2011-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-28 03:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/302996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deense/pseuds/Deense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Immediately after the Season 1 finale, Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes have a conversation</p>
            </blockquote>





	Simpler Times

**Author's Note:**

  * For [astrangerenters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrangerenters/gifts).



The House was in a tizzy with all that had happened that day. As if Her Ladyship’s condition weren’t enough to be dealing with, but then the Garden Party and Lady Mary’s falling out with Mister Crawley had put a damper on the day. A damper that had only been exacerbated upon His Lordship’s announcement about the war.

Most of the guests had left shortly after the announcement, earlier than they might have otherwise. Calls were made from the House but it seemed little concrete had been learned. It would be days if not weeks before more real news about the war reached them, Mrs Hughes knew. Not that it mattered to the Family or the staff, who were in an uproar.

Mrs Hughes had a headache trying to manage the house when things were in this sort of tumult. It was a test of her abilities trying to calm the housemaids and reassure the kitchen staff. Mrs Patmore was already coming up with scenarios in which she needed to feed over a hundred with only a few bits of gristle and mouldy flour.

When the stores were finally locked and most of the girls sent to bed, she breathed a sigh of relief. It wouldn’t be so easy from here on in, she knew, but at least the chaos of today was at an end. That Mister Carson’s light was still on wasn’t a surprise, his worries likely to be as great as hers.

“Would I be interrupting if I brought in some tea?” She tapped at the door, not wishing to intrude, but grateful for the company should Mister Carson not be too involved in his work.

“Hmmm?” Carson looked up from his books, distracted but relieved for the interruption. “I won’t be getting anywhere with these tonight. Too much we don’t know, isn’t there?”

“That there is, Mister Carson.” Elsie called for the girl still cleaning in the kitchen, asking her for a bit of tea before taking the seat she usually did. “If only I knew where to start with it all. The girls are all a frazzle, everyone talking of war and what it will mean.”

“And what will it mean, Mrs Hughes?” His question was not entirely a rhetorical one. “How many footmen should I lose to this kerfuffle-”

“Kerfuffle. Please, Mister Carson. Lady Mary and Mister Crawley had a kerfuffle, a war can barely be called that.”

“I won’t have you say a bad word about Lady Mary-”

“Don’t worry, that wasn’t a slight, though I still do wonder what she has done to deserve such loyalty from you.” It was a testament to her character that she didn’t raise a brow as she said that, hands folded in her lap. Lady Mary deserved a very many things in her mind, but the blind devotion of someone such as Mister Carson was something she could never comprehend. He’d an affection for her, and Mrs Hughes knew better than to truly argue against such an affection for all that she might occasionally needle him. “I am, however, concerned about her refusal of Mister Crawley, and what may ensue from that. Especially with times as they are. He did leave the party quite early.”

“Early and upset, and Lady Mary not much better.” His gruff response meant that he hadn’t taken her earlier words to heart, which was a relief. “He was a fool to turn her down today.”

“And she was a fool to not take him months ago,” she responded, knowing the number of times they’d had this discussion. Luckily they were saved from more of it by the arrival of their tea tray, Elsie dismissing the kitchen maid and setting it on the table between them herself. She looked up at Mister Carson as she started to pour, “but that’s an old argument, and one that we don’t need to have again.”

“You are likely wise in that, Mrs Hughes.” Carson sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair as he considered the day they’d all had. “It is a worry, of course, with the war. Should Mister Crawley be hurt, or worse-”

“Don’t even think such a thing Mister Carson,” she admonished him with a stern tone.

“I know, I know,” he held his hand up for a moment before taking his cup of tea from her. “But if he is, and we need to start this over again, then who will the heir be? As much as I don’t care to say it, it’s unlikely Her Ladyship will have another child. Will there be another far-flung relative foisted upon us? What will become of Downton then?”

“Mister Carson,” she shook her head as she sat back with her own cup. Her first in hours, she realised as she took a sip. The warmth soothed her, and she made a mental note to make sure she took a pause for a cup the next day. “What will become of Downton in that instance is something none of us should be fretting over. Instead, there are more pressing concerns.”

“Of course,” he pulled back as if remembering himself. “Footmen, for instance. Thomas is going, thankfully, but finding a replacement if there’s a war may prove difficult. William is young as well, and the glamour of war may yet seduce him.”

He’d said the last dryly, a relief to Mrs Hughes who agreed that war was yet one of the least glamorous things about. Not that she had much time for glamour. Steady and reliable, though it might not be exciting, saw her through most days. In a house like this that sort of outlook was needed. “We can only pray not, and pray that it is over quickly. For all of our sakes. Then our talk can go back to concerns about dinner planning, and the uniforms.”

“If only we are so lucky,” he agreed, lifting his tea cup toward her before taking a sip himself. “How I wish my worries were confined to Thomas, and how we should let him go, and not this.”

“I know Mister Carson,” she smiled at him, knowing how much they had all hated that situation. Elsie returned his gesture, lifting her cup toward him as well, “To simpler times.”

“Simpler times and may we have them back sooner, rather than later.”


End file.
